City gears up for downtown festival

Andrew Mansfield

Tuesday

Aug 1, 2017 at 7:59 AM

GARDNER The Chair City is sure to shine bright for the upcoming two-day extravaganza that is the 78th annual Experience Gardner Festival & Sidewalk Sale.Every year, downtown is turned into a carnival land of activities, entertainment, food and shopping for local people to take in, and which organizers also hope produces a heaping sense of hometown pride.

GARDNER The Chair City is sure to shine bright for the upcoming two-day extravaganza that is the 78th annual Experience Gardner Festival & Sidewalk Sale.Every year, downtown is turned into a carnival land of activities, entertainment, food and shopping for local people to take in, and which organizers also hope produces a heaping sense of hometown pride.

“We’re very excited about next weekend,” said Gardner Square Two festival coordinator Patti Bergstrom. “It’s called the Experience Gardner Festival for a reason, because people do get to experience Gardner … I think there’s going to be something for everyone.”

Portions of Central, Main, West Lynde, Parker and Pleasant streets will all be closed off from traffic to host the outdoor event.

The festival and sidewalk sale takes place on Friday, Aug. 4, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, Aug. 5, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Gardner Square Two is a nonprofit organization comprised of business leaders and other residents that works to promote and enhance the downtown, hosting several community events throughout the year.

Bergstrom is an active member of the organization and is the owner of The Velvet Goose, at 24 Main St.

Square Two’s annual summer festival and sidewalk sale is always held in early August and seems to only be getting bigger over time.

“I think we have more vendors than I can ever recall having,” Bergstrom said about this year.

Many local businesses and organizations participate in or help sponsor the event, with Salvadore Auto Group and the Mount Wachusett Community College Fitness & Wellness Center being the lead sponsors.

Over the course of both days, there will be plenty of fun attractions to appeal to adults and children alike.

On Friday, a few of the highlights are the Heroes Among Us Award Ceremony held from 11 to 11:30 a.m., which is then immediately followed by the Super Hero Parade where people dress up in their favorite super hero costumes.Throughout Friday afternoon, there will also be musical performances by Athol native Bradley Bartlett-Roche, who is known as the “Boston Piano Kid” and who has played with music icon Billy Joel before.

As a teenager, the “Boston Piano Kid” has gained regional fame with his impressive saxophone and piano playing.

The Heroes Among Us ceremony honors Gardner citizens for their noteworthy contributions and accomplishments.

This year, the honorees are the Gardner Fire Department and Leo and Brenda Gallant, a married couple who helped save their neighbors during a fire earlier this year; Mark Gearan, a Gardner High alumni whose career resume includes working as deputy chief of staff for President Bill Clinton; John LaPointe, who won a gym makeover for Waterford Street School through a competition at his work; Laticia Rolle and her family, who have been charitable to the community and have brought basketball star Shaquille O’Neal, who is Laticia’s boyfriend, to Gardner to visit local children on multiple occasions; and also GAAMHA Inc., a nonprofit social services organization that is celebrating its 50th anniversary and provides substance abuse recovery services, transportation services, and services for the intellectually disabled.

For the summer festival and sidewalk sale activities scheduled on Saturday, a few of the highlights are Gardner Makes Steamroller Printing by the Chair City Community Workshop from 10 a.m. to noon, which will create an artistic homage to Gardner manufacturers Travers Printing, Chair City Wayside, and Dennecrepe; and also the “Touch a Truck” showcase from 12 to 4 p.m., which will let children check out the vehicles of the city’s Department of Public Works, Fire Department and Wood’s Ambulance.

On both Friday and Saturday, there will be attractions such as the beer garden at the Gardner Ale House on Parker Street, the VIP Dunk Tank to raise money for the addiction and recovery-focused A.E.D. Foundation, demonstrations by The Yoga Tree, as well as meet and greet events for children to visit superheroes and Santa Claus.

One new aspect to this year that Bergstrom noted is there will be three food trucks coming, all of whom participated in the city’s food truck festival earlier this summer.Only on Friday, the food trucks Uncle E’s BBQ Express and Minuteman Kettle Corn will be at the festival. On both days, the well-known Ben & Jerry’s will be serving its ice cream.

Bergstrom commented that it takes many volunteers to organize the festival and sidewalk sale, as well as cooperation from the city to make sure everything runs smoothly and safely.

With all that there is to do and experience, the annual event seems poised for another successful showing. The only possible damper could be some untimely rain, but Bergstrom has her fingers crossed it will be nothing but fabulous warmth and sunshine.

“It is a beautiful coming together of the community. It’s a day we can all be proud of what we have and what we do,” she said.

For a complete schedule of the annual event, people can visit the Gardner Square Two Facebook page or its website www.gardnersquaretwo.com.

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